


A Skinny Santa Claus

by h_d



Series: Merlin Christmas Fest 2014 [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, Holidays, Kid Fic, M/M, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 11:19:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2730482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_d/pseuds/h_d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On Christmas Eve, Merlin has a couple of surprises for Arthur and their daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Skinny Santa Claus

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Merlin Christmas Fest](http://merlinchristmasfest.tumblr.com/) week one, for the prompt "all I want for Christmas is you."

It was Christmas Eve, and Arthur and Merlin's small London flat was decorated with a real Christmas tree covered in lights and ornaments. Many of these were handmade; Merlin had taught Arthur and their daughter, Julia, to make all of the crafts Merlin remembered from his own childhood. The tree was full of glittery pine cones, paper Santas, and beaded angels. 

Arthur preferred this chaotic tree a million times over to all of the sterile and professional decorations he remembered from his youth as the son of a wealthy and distant man. Under the tree were all of the gifts he and Merlin had bought for Julia, and they looked sort of messy, too. Neither of the pair were very good at wrapping presents. But they'd chosen them all themselves, not asked their personal assistants to buy something suitable for a girl Julia's age. Arthur knew that Julia would love all of the gifts. 

He sat on the sofa with Julia on his lap, reading to her from her favourite book of Christmas stories. She was only five and had just started school that year. She helped Arthur turn the pages and giggled at the antics of the elves in the pictures. Arthur liked to do funny voices for the different characters, and Julia loved it.

They were wrapped up in the story until they heard the front door open. Arthur turned his head sharply to find Merlin standing there, tightening his red scarf around his neck and obviously ready to leave.

“I'm heading to the corner shop,” he said.

“Corner shop? But it's Christmas Eve!” Arthur protested. 

“Yeah, Daddy,” said Julia. “You should be home with us.”

“We're almost out of milk,” Merlin said. “And I know you want to leave out a nice plate of biscuits with milk for Santa, don't you?”

Julia looked at Arthur with wide eyes. “That's true,” she said. She shrugged and turned back to the book. 

“Be careful, Merlin,” Arthur said. 

“I always am,” Merlin replied. And he was out the door.

Arthur started reading to Julia again, but his heart wasn't in it. He stopped doing the voices and just read the words on the page aloud, not even giving Julia a chance to study the pictures. He didn't like the thought of his scrawny husband fighting off crowds of last-minute shoppers. What if it was the last container of milk, and someone decided to fight Merlin over it? He could end up with a broken nose, or worse. 

Julia placed her little hand on the page. “It's okay, Papa. We don't have to read any more right now.” She closed the book.

He squeezed her tight and pecked her cheek. She was such a sensitive kid. “Let's get that plate of biscuits ready for Santa, then,” he said. 

She bounced off his lap and ran to the kitchen. Arthur followed and got out the trays of biscuits they had all worked so hard to bake and decorate in time for Christmas. 

Julia chose her favourites for Santa's plate. He and Merlin would be eating them after Julia went to bed, of course, but he couldn't resist grabbing a gingerbread man to nibble while she worked.

“Daddy told me that Santa likes almond flavour, so I gave him two of those,” she said, pointing at the plate. 

“It looks great, sweetheart,” he said. 

They put the plate of biscuits on the counter and covered it with a brightly printed holiday napkin. 

“Are you sure he'll know this is here, Papa?” she asked.

“Oh, don't worry about that, love. Santa always looks for treats,” Arthur explained. “The only thing he loves more than giving presents is eating holiday treats.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding seriously. “When is Daddy coming back?”

Arthur glanced at the clock on the microwave. Merlin had already been gone for half an hour, far longer than he should have needed just to step out for milk.

“I'm sure it won't be much longer now. Why don't you go get ready for bed? The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner you can open your presents in the morning,” he said.

Julia had only been gone for a few minutes when Arthur heard Merlin's key in the lock. He rushed towards the door.

“Are you alright? I was worried—” he began, then stopped when he caught sight of Merlin.

Merlin was dressed as Santa Claus. Well, sort of. He was wearing a furry red suit, as well as a Santa hat and a long white beard. But he hadn't attempted to fit any pillows or anything under the costume, and he looked like a rather skinny version of Jolly Old St. Nick.

Merlin's eyes were merry, daring Arthur to give in to the impulse to laugh at him, but Arthur didn't want to. After all, Merlin had obviously done this for Julia. He was a good father and it wouldn't do to embarrass him. Instead, Arthur bit his lip and motioned Merlin inside.

“Santa Claus!” he yelled towards Julia's bedroom, knowing she was probably struggling with the buttons on her pyjamas. “Santa made a special stop for us, how nice.” He shook his head fondly at Merlin.

“Ho ho ho!” Merlin bellowed. 

Julia ran into the living room. Her top was buttoned wrong, but for once Arthur didn't stop her so he could fix it. Her eyes were round in surprise and her mouth was open as she looked at Merlin.

“Daddy?” she said. “Why are you dressed up like Santa, Daddy?”

Arthur was shocked and had no idea what to say. He looked at Merlin and noticed that he had blushed bright red, but Merlin recovered very quickly. 

He knelt down, face-to-face with Julia, and took her hands. “Santa gave me this costume. I'm one of his official helpers,” he said, in his normal speaking voice. 

“You are?” she asked, her face breaking into a wide grin. “How did that happen?”

“Well,” Merlin said, standing back up and stroking Julia's unruly curls away from her face, “I applied for the job a few months ago. There were thousands of applicants, but only a few of us got in. It had to be someone with a lot of Christmas cheer, you know.”

Arthur wanted to laugh again, but he couldn't, because it was clear that Julia believed Merlin's story. 

“I've never met anyone with as much Christmas cheer as your Daddy,” Arthur said. He wrapped an arm around Merlin's waist. Merlin turned to kiss him. Arthur closed his eyes and waited for the soft, gentle press of Merlin's lips, but instead he found his mouth and nose full of white fluff. Oh, the fake beard. It tickled Arthur in an unexpected and unpleasant way, and he sneezed three times in quick succession.

“Bless you, Papa,” said Julia. 

Arthur sneezed a few more times, unable to get the ticklish feeling out of his nose. “Erm, Merlin, I think I'm allergic to your beard,” he said apologetically. “I'll just go blow my nose. I'll be right back.”

When Arthur returned from the loo, Merlin was standing at the kitchen sink, scrubbing at his face, which was now bare, with a holiday napkin. “Sorry about that, Arthur,” he said. “I didn't know. I know your allergies can be brutal sometimes, so I've removed it.”

“You could have just stopped yourself from kissing me,” Arthur said. 

“No, that would have been far more difficult than taking off the beard,” Merlin said, grinning. He reached to tug down the fur trim on his hat, making sure it was still snugly in place, then half-turned to check if Julia was still listening. She was standing in the doorway, so excited that she was bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Anyway, Santa told me that the costume wasn't required, or anything.”

Merlin really had a gift for making up stories to fit whatever situation he found himself in, Arthur thought. 

“You talked to Santa?” Julia asked, still hopping in place. 

Merlin picked her up mid-hop and carried her on his hip into the living room. Arthur followed and watched as Merlin carefully set Julia down on the sofa. They both sat down on either side of her.

“I did talk to Santa,” Merlin said. “He told me to make sure you put out some good treats for him this year. Did you do that?”

“Yes,” she said. 

Merlin nodded. “I also asked the elves to make you a special gift,” he said.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at Merlin. He didn't know anything about a special gift for Julia. They had decided on all of her presents very carefully.

“Really, it's for all of us,” Merlin said. 

With that, he removed his hat, revealing a small, square box, about the right size to contain an apple, which was balanced on his head. It was wrapped in metallic gold paper.

“You're silly, Daddy,” Julia admonished. 

“Yes,” Merlin agreed. “But I know you love me anyway.”

Julia giggled.

Merlin handed the gift to Julia and met Arthur's eyes long enough to shoot him a quick, fond smile.

They had never allowed Julia to open gifts on Christmas Eve, like some families did. As Julia slowly turned the box over and over in her hands, seeming to be mesmerised, curiosity overwhelmed Arthur. “Go ahead and open it, sweetheart,” he said. 

Julia carefully unwrapped the box and opened it. Inside was another Christmas ornament. It was a clear glass bauble, and inside was suspended a picture of Arthur, Merlin, and Julia, taken last summer at the park. Arthur was sitting on the grass cross-legged with Julia in his lap. Merlin sat next to him, his head on Arthur's shoulder and his hand on Julia's hair. Arthur remembered Merlin setting the timer on his phone and announcing that they should all smile for the camera at the count of three, but the photo had turned out looking very natural.

Julia was grinning now as she looked at it, just like she was in the photo. “Thank you, Daddy,” she said.

“You're welcome, sugar plum,” Merlin replied. “Here, let Papa take a look.”

Julia handed the ornament to Arthur very carefully, using both hands, then crawled onto Merlin's lap for a hug. 

Arthur held the bauble by its string. It was already covered in the prints of Julia's small fingers. Arthur's heart felt full as he looked again at the photo and then at the scene happening now. Merlin didn't look much like Santa at all without the hat or beard; he was just an ordinary young man, but a very handsome one. Julia was hugging him with all of her strength, her eyes squeezed shut tight. 

“Love you,” Merlin told her, hugging her back. 

Arthur's eyes misted up as he watched them. He sniffled. 

Merlin looked up. “Oh no, not your allergies again?” he said, concerned. 

Arthur shook his head and wiped his eyes. “Come on, let's hang this on the tree. Help me find the best place for it, Julia,” he said.

She sprang up and pointed to one of the tree's few empty branches, and Arthur put it there. Merlin was beaming at them. 

“Arthur, come get another kiss from Santa, I mean, from Santa's helper,” Merlin said. “No beard this time.”

Arthur bent and kissed Merlin, short and sweet. 

Julia was yawning and rubbing her eyes. 

“Bedtime, Julia,” Arthur said. Together he and Merlin tucked her in and kissed her goodnight.

Arthur and Merlin returned to the sofa. 

“The costume was a great idea,” Arthur said. “It's too bad she knew it was you.”

“Oh, it doesn't matter,” Merlin said. “I wanted to do something special for her. It's her first Christmas since she started school, you know.”

Arthur chuckled. Merlin was always inventing milestones to celebrate with Julia, even though there were always plenty of traditional milestones, too. 

Arthur remembered the day they had adopted her, when she was only a week old. Merlin had said, “Imagine this day through her eyes. We're the first parents she's known, the only parents she'll ever know.” 

Merlin had sang a lullaby to her that night, something lilting and foreign to Arthur's ears, and Arthur got caught up in the same enthusiasm that had gripped Merlin. 

“That was her first lullaby,” Arthur whispered. Merlin kissed him on the cheek.

He also remembered, with a bit of exasperation, a day about a year later, when they had taken Julia for a walk in her stroller in the park. A playful puppy, which should _really_ have been on a leash in Arthur's opinion, had jumped right up and started licking her face. 

The dog's owner came running, picked up the dog, and apologised, while reassuring them that his dog was harmless and just really liked to make friends. It was alright because Julia was babbling happily, not frightened at all. If she'd been upset, Arthur would have probably called the police.

Merlin unbuckled Julia from the stroller and got out a blanket from her baby bag. Julia and the dog played together while Arthur was stuck making awkward small talk with the lax dog owner, because Merlin was busy taking a million photos, exclaiming about how this was Julia's “first dog.”

Now Julia had grown up a little, and while she had definitely inherited Merlin's enthusiasm, she also had at least something of Arthur's more serious approach to life. 

He took Merlin's hand where it rested between them on the sofa and kissed the back of it. “It was a lovely idea,” he said. “Thank you. But where were you, when you said you were going out for milk?”

Merlin laughed. “I stashed this getup at Gwaine and Percy's place, downstairs. They're out of town, visiting some relative of Gwaine's, so I used the spare key. I wanted it to be a surprise for both of you.”

Arthur smiled. “It was definitely a surprise.”

Merlin pulled him into another short kiss, then stroked his cheek. “Did you like the gift?”

“Very much,” Arthur said. “But I hope you didn't get me anything else. Just having you and Julia here with me is the only Christmas gift I could ever want.”

In answer, Merlin kissed him again, and this time, the kissing went on and on.


End file.
